Why America is so great--another example.

This story from the Miami Herald spells out America's benevolence like nothing that the Obama Administration can ever say or any of our detractors (foreign and domestic) can argue.

Peruvian teen in Miami for genital reconstruction after rifle accident left him without a penis
And smirk at the injury if you will, but the story is that this kid from some Peruvian backwater sustains an injury that is beyond anything that doctors in his country can treat or that his family can afford to pay for, and American doctors step up and fly him and his family here at no cost to the family or our own taxpayers and fix him up so that he can have a normal life again.

Luis and his father, Roger, 41, arrived in Miami July 16 thanks to a program called International Kids Fund Wonderfund, which is run by Jackson Memorial Foundation. The charity helps foreign kids get medical treatment and surgery they can’t receive or afford in their home countries.

Children are treated at Holtz Children’s Hospital at University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Medical Center and money is raised through private and public donations to help cover the costs.

Luis’ treatment will cost $50,000, an expense his family could not afford on their own. Ronald McDonald House, a hostel for visiting families near Jackson, is providing them housing.

“My family is a poor family. We don’t have a lot of resources,” Roger said.

The Canelos family lives in a straw house in a village of 10,000 in the rural Peruvian region of Loreto, bordering Colombia and Ecuador. They share a parcel of land with other families where they grow yucca, plantains, corn and rice, as well as raise small chickens, for their own consumption.

Loreto is isolated from much of the country, Roger explained. Ambulances, for example, arrive by river.

“Everything is jungle out there,” Roger said.

Luis and Roger had never left their village before. Their journey to the United States began when they took a small boat bound for Mazan, a town in the same province. Next they crossed part of the Amazon to arrive in Quito, Ecuador. From there, father and son boarded a flight to Lima, where they stayed for two weeks before departing for Miami.

Roger brought with him a camera to document the trip to South Florida, a metropolis unlike his village. So far he has taken pictures of Metrorail and large homes.

“I never thought I could get this far,” Luis said.

Well he got this far, not thanks to Obamacare or anything done by big government, but by the charity of the American people. This is the kind of thing that America stands for and used to be known for world-wide, and despite those around the world who hate us, it's usually private aid organizations run by generous American people who are the first to volunteer to help those in need, be it in disasters like the Haitian earthquake, a handful of miners trapped in Chile, or just a kid like this, brought here from Peru or Iraq of Afghanistan to receive life-changing medical care that they'd likely never get otherwise. And it's not the American government that does these things as much as it is individual Americans and private groups who voluntarily give their time and expertise and often a great deal of their own money, not because they expect a reward or because the government made them do it, but because it's the right thing to do and we're that kind of people. And when I read stories like this, I can't help but love my countrymen and women even more as I pass it along. It's stuff like this that makes me proud to be an American on the Friday afternoon.

Parents upset over ex-porn star reading to schoolkids.

Seriously? This is an issue now? Sasha Grey, a former porn actress who has forsaken the porn industry in an attempt to become a mainstream actress, volunteered to read to schoolkids in Los Angeles as part of the Read Across America program.

One would not think that this would be a problem for anyone, yet several angry parents lodged complaints and the school in question even denied that she was there despite pictures to the contrary having already been released.

Now I'm not a pornography afficianado myself, and prior to finding this story I had no idea who Sasha Grey was. (This makes me wonder about the parents who complained. How exactly did they know who she was?) But I have to point out that she was there in that school to spend time building these kids up, and the parents who are now complaining apparently were not despite having had the same opportunity to volunteer that she accepted. In essence, they're mad because she was doing something to help their kids that they chose not to do.

And to Ms. Grey's credit, she's standing fast in the face of this criticism and refusing to quit volunteering. She's even gone so far as to issue a statement reaffirming her commitment to this program, and in my opinion, her past doesn't count against her as much as her intent to do right today counts for her. That being the case, I proclaim Sasha Grey to be a winner, and the parents who are complaining without volunteering to do what she's doing...well they're the opposite of winners, IMHO.

Profile of a winner: Emiley Steiger

Emiley Steiger is a winner.

LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - A Fairdale High School graduate is headed to basic training next month after losing the 85 pounds needed to join the military.

Emiley Steiger enlisted as an ammunition specialist and leaves for basic training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina in July. She said she decided to join the Army after a military recruiter spoke at Fairdale High School in Spring 2009. Steiger said she weighed 213 pounds at the time and described weight as a constant struggle.

"I used to eat mayonnaise right out of the jar and had to quit," Steiger said. "I got a gym membership, quit eating fast food and stopped eating late at night."

The summer ahead of her senior year, the teenager decided to lose weight. Future Soldier Dottie Bussey worked beside her.

"Some days I go to the gym with her or we go to the park and run and I help her at her house with all the drill and ceremony stuff we have to do," Bussey said. "Grades too, I helped her with her grades."

Steiger described her decision as life-changing and challenging.

"I got tired of crying pretty much and even when I first started running, I was like 'Why did my mom make me like this? It's my mom's fault! It's her fault!'"

Steiger said she currently weighs 130 pounds. Bussey said she has lost 52 pounds since the two started working together.

In this day and age, when so many young people sit around and insist that the rest of us owe them a living, or cry because life is so hard (even though they have it easier than us older generations ever did), it's great to see someone willing to work so hard to achieve a goal, especially a goal as noble as being allowed to serve this great country.

Way to go, Emiley. I'm sure that you'll do the Army--and America--proud.

Salute.

Burn Notice boycott is OVER!

OK. After reading this great post on Blackfive, my self-imposed boycott of the show Burn Notice is at an end.

Some of you may recall a post a few months back where I expressed a great deal of disappointment over something that lead actor Jeffery Donovan did off the set. It was enough to make me give up watching what had been one of the very few modern shows that I ever watched. But that's all in the past now as it has been more than atoned for by his recent action--traveling to Iraq with co-star Bruce Campbell to visit our troops serving there.

That's the sort of class that we used to routinely see from our Hollywood celebrities back in the day that Hollywood was patriotic and actually supported America and our troops. (That would be "pre-George Clooney" for those who don't remember those days.)

Here they are shooting with our troops at Combat Outpost Meade on November 13th.Yeah, Jeffrey Donovan needs someone to teach him how to actually hold that Beretta M9. No one uses that old "cup-and-saucer" hold any more. But Bruce Campbell (below) seems to be enjoying that M249 SAW and making good use of it.




And here, Bruce Campbell and Jeffrey Donovan hold the U.S. flag as Spc. Peter Jank re-enlists on Nov. 12, at Joint Security Station Nasir Wa Salam, Iraq. (Spc. Jank is the one on the right, standing ahead of Donovan.)

Jeffrey Donovan and Bruce Campbell did not have to go to Iraq. They could have done as most of the rest of Hollywood has done and is still doing and just ignored our troops. But they went, and they gave our troops a much-needed boost. So because they did that, Burn Notice is once again back on the TV here. Good job, guys.

And Hey Aaron, how about shooting me Season Three on DVD?

What does it take to be a winner?

Well I got a good idea yesterday. It was a cold, rainy day here. The temperature was around 40 degrees and the drizzly rain and wind was the sort of weather that just chilled you to the bone. I had to go into town to run a few errands, and as I was on the way back, I passed a local church that hosts soccer practice on week-ends. I didn't figure anyone would be out there in that weather but to my surprise, there were dozens of kids out there in their soccer shorts, running and kicking soccer balls. They had to be just miserable out there, but they were practicing nonetheless. And I was struck by the fact that these kids are winners. They've got what it takes to be out working at their craft and going the extra distance when many if not most of their contemporaries were sitting at home watching TV. That's the sort of extra drive that it takes to triumph and I have to think that if they can do it for soccer, most of these kids can apply that sort of effort to other challenges they encounter in life.

You go, kids. And cheers to the parents that took their kids out and cheered them on in that nasty weather. You set a great example, both to your kids and to a guy and his dog who just happened to be driving by.